Liquid bird feeder

ABSTRACT

A liquid hummingbird feeder is provided with a liquid container having a sealable top opening and a bottom opening, a liquid tray adapted to immerse the bottom opening in liquid, and a valve mechanism adapted to close the bottom opening to enable the liquid container to be filled through the sealable top opening.

This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.12/929,777, filed Feb. 15, 2011, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 8,100,085 onJan. 24, 2012, which was a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/588,262filed Oct. 8, 2009, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,891,319 on Feb. 22,2011, which was a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 11/434,020filed May 15, 2006, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,600,487 on Oct. 13,2009, which claimed priority from U.S. provisional application, Ser. No.60/681,376 filed May 16, 2005, the priority of which is hereby claimed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally related to liquid bird feeders and,in particular, to such bird feeders which may be filled withoutinversion.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Liquid nectar bird feeders are used for specifically attractinghummingbirds in the same manner as seed feeders are used to attractother birds. Some may consider liquid nectar feeders to be lessconvenient however, because of the liquid auto-feed structure. Fillingliquid feeders commonly requires inversion of the feeder and certainliquid spillage from this action.

It is therefore desirable to have a liquid nectar feeder which minimizesliquid spillage during filling and which even avoids inversion duringfilling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, a liquid bird feeder,comprises a liquid container having a sealable top opening and a bottomopening, a liquid tray adapted to immerse the bottom opening in liquid,and a valve mechanism adapted to close the bottom opening to enable theliquid container to be filled through the sealable top opening.

The liquid container may include a vertically oriented cylindricalextension forming the bottom opening. The liquid tray may include avertically oriented cylindrical collar adapted to connect to thecylindrical extension of the liquid container. The cylindrical collarmay include a cylindrical side wall having a liquid port locatedtherein. The valve mechanism may include a rotatable cylindrical memberhaving an opening adapted to selectively align and misalign with theport in the cylindrical collar to respectively open or close the portwith rotation of the rotatable cylindrical member. The cylindricalcollar may include a plurality of ports and the rotatable cylindricalmember may include a corresponding plurality of openings adapted tosimultaneously align or misalign with the plurality of ports forrespectively opening and closing all of the plurality of portssimultaneously with rotation of the rotatable cylindrical member.

The rotatable cylindrical member may be adapted to be at least partiallyimmersed in liquid within the liquid tray and may include an actuatorwhich extends above the port in the cylindrical collar, and thus above anormal liquid level in the liquid tray. The liquid tray may include atray cover having one or more feeding ports passing there through and aslot adapted to allow the actuator to be operable from outside of thetray cover to rotate the rotatable cylindrical member.

The liquid container may include a top cover adapted to seal the topopening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustratively shown and described in referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a bird feeder constructed inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial sectional, side view of the embodiment ofFIG. 1, showing greater detail and having a component is located in adifferent operative position from the view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the bird feeder of FIGS. 1 and 2 showingapproximate cross sectional cut lines used for FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of two components used in the bird feederof FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 5 is a different perspective view of the bird feeder components ofFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In describing preferred embodiments of the present invention illustratedin the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake ofclarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific terminology so selected, and it is to be understood that eachspecific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in asimilar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

FIG. 1 generally shows a sectional side view of a bird feeder 10, whichgenerally includes a reservoir or liquid container 12 and a liquid tray14. Liquid container 12 includes a sealable top opening 16 having acover 18 adapted to seal top opening 16. Cover 18 includes peripheralthreads 20 adapted to engage liquid container 12 and an 0-ring seal 22located to create an air tight seal.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged sectional side view of the lower portion ofbird feeder 10. Liquid container 12 also includes a bottom opening 24formed by a cylindrical extension 26 of the lower end 12 a of liquidcontainer 12. Bottom opening 24 and liquid tray 14 are oriented toimmerse bottom opening 24 in liquid from liquid container 12. Thisarrangement allows a vacuum created in the upper end 12 b of the liquidcontainer 12 to retain liquid therein and automatically feed liquid intoliquid tray 14 to the level of bottom opening 24.

Liquid tray 14 includes a vertically oriented, cylindrical collar 30,which extends upwardly and is adapted to engage cylindrical extension 26of liquid container 12. Cylindrical collar 30 is axially closed at itslower end by formation with liquid tray 14, but includes one or moreports 32 formed in the cylindrical side wall 34.

Bird feeder 10 further includes a valve mechanism 38 including arotatable cylindrical member 40. Cylindrical member 40 includes one ormore openings 42 adapted to either align with a port 32 or misalign inresponse to the rotation of valve mechanism 38 and rotatable cylindricalmember 40. FIG. 2 shows opening 42 in alignment with a port 32 coveredby a portion of rotatable cylindrical member 40, thus effecting closureof ports 32.

FIG. 3 shows the approximate cross section used for FIGS. 1 and 2.However, the angled leg of the cross section line C-C is slightlydifferent between FIGS. 1 and 2, because the cross section passesthrough actuator handle 48, which is in different positions in FIGS. 1and 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show respective upper and lower perspective views of theliquid tray 14 and valve mechanism 38. FIG. 4 shows cylindrical collar30 to have a plurality of ports 32, and FIG. 5 shows rotatablecylindrical member 40 to have a plurality of openings 42. Ports 32 andopenings 42 are located at the same angular positions around the theirrespective cylindrical axes to cause simultaneous misalignment oralignment between all ports 32 and openings 42, thus allowing bottomopening 24 to be selectively closed or opened. Valve mechanism 38further includes a circular disk 46 and an actuator handle 48, which areshown to extend above the level of port 32 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thisenables activation of valve mechanism 38 even while there is liquidpresent in liquid tray.

Now returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, liquid tray 14 further includes a cover50 adapted to substantially close liquid tray 14 and limit access to anyliquid contents thereof. Cover 50 includes a plurality of bird feederports 52 adapted to allow access by long-beaked hummingbirds whilesimultaneously preventing access by bees. Cover 50 further includes aslot 54 to allow the actuator handle 48 to extend outside of liquid tray14.

The unique construction of bird feeder 10 thus allows filling thereofwithout necessitating inversion and undesired dripping or spillage ofliquid nectar.

It is now apparent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments,improvements, details, and uses can be made consistent with the letterand spirit of the foregoing disclosure and within the scope of thispatent, which is limited only by the following claims, construed inaccordance with the patent law, including the doctrine of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A top-fill liquid hummingbird feeder forproviding liquid nectar to hummingbirds, comprising: a liquid containerconfigured to contain a volume of liquid nectar and having a top openingand a bottom portion with a downwardly oriented extension having anextension flow opening; a cap adapted to close said top opening and tobe removed to allow filling through said top opening; a liquid trayconfigured to receive liquid nectar via said extension flow opening fromsaid container, said liquid tray including at least one feeding portthrough which hummingbirds can access the liquid nectar in said tray; anattaching element positioned centrally in said tray and extendingupwardly therefrom, said attaching element being engaged with saidextension to secure the container to the tray; and a valve mechanismassociated with said attaching element and including a movable member,said movable member being a separate element from said attaching elementand movable with respect thereto, at least part of said movable memberfitting over and encircling said attaching element, said movable memberconfigured, through movement thereof, to selectively open and close saidextension flow opening through which liquid in said container flows intosaid liquid tray, closure of said flow opening by said valve mechanismenabling said liquid container to be filled by removing said cap andadding liquid nectar through said top opening while, at the same time,preventing overflow of nectar through said feeding port.
 2. Thehummingbird feeder of claim 1, wherein said movable member selectivelyopens or closes said flow opening to respectively allow or prevent flowof liquid from said container bottom portion through said extension flowopening into said liquid tray when said movable member moves between afirst position and a second position.
 3. The hummingbird feeder of claim1, wherein at least a portion of said attaching element includes innerthreads adapted to screw-threadedly engage with external threads on thebottom portion of said extension to secure the container to the liquidtray.
 4. The hummingbird feeder of claim 3, wherein said attachingelement is fixedly connected to said liquid tray.
 5. The hummingbirdbird feeder of claim 1, wherein said liquid tray includes a tray coverconfigured to substantially close said liquid tray, said feeding portpassing through said cover with a narrow elongated passageway that issized to allow access by long-beaked hummingbirds while preventingaccess by bees, liquid in said liquid tray being accessible tohummingbirds only through said feeding port when said feeder is in use.6. The hummingbird feeder of claim 1, wherein said movable member isconfigured to be at least partially immersed in liquid within saidliquid tray and includes a part which extends above a liquid level insaid liquid tray when said liquid tray is full.
 7. The hummingbirdfeeder of claim 1, wherein said extension is bottleneck-shaped and saidattaching element includes a generally cylindrical vertically upstandingwall integral with said liquid tray and adapted to receive saidextension of said liquid container.
 8. The hummingbird feeder of claim7, wherein said vertically upstanding wall includes parts that engageopposing sides of said extension.
 9. The hummingbird feeder of claim 8,wherein at least a portion of said attaching element includes innerthreads adapted to screw-threadedly engage with external threads on theextension of said liquid container to secure the container to the liquidtray.
 10. The hummingbird feeder of claim 1, wherein said movable memberhas a curved inner surface that rides along a correspondingly curvedouter surface of said attaching element when said movable member moves.11. The hummingbird feeder of claim 10, wherein sideways movement ofsaid movable member is constrained by contact with said attachingelement.
 12. A top-fill liquid hummingbird feeder, comprising: a liquidcontainer having a top opening for receiving hummingbird nectar and alower end with a downwardly oriented, narrowed extension having a bottomflow opening for dispensing nectar; a container cover adapted to engagesaid liquid container to close said top opening; a covered liquid traydefining an enclosure accessible by at least one feeding port, saidfeeding port passing through an upper part of said covered tray with anarrow elongated passageway that is sized to allow access by long-beakedhummingbirds while preventing access by bees, liquid in said coveredliquid tray being accessible to hummingbirds only through said feedingport when said feeder is in use; an attaching element secured to saidtray and having an upwardly directed opening, said attaching elementbeing complementary in shape with said downwardly oriented extensionwith said extension being received within said opening when saidcontainer is connected to said covered liquid tray; a valve mechanismhaving a movable member configured to regulate flow of hummingbirdnectar from said container through said bottom flow opening in saidextension and into said liquid tray, said movable member being aseparate element from said attaching element and movable with respectthereto, said movable member opening or closing said flow opening torespectively allow or prevent flow of liquid from said container intosaid liquid tray when said movable member moves between a first positionand a second position, at least part of said movable member fitting overand encircling said attaching element; and said container, tray andvalve mechanism being configured so that, when said bottom opening isclosed, said liquid container can be filled with nectar through said topopening while, at the same time, overflow of nectar through said feedingport is prevented.
 13. The hummingbird feeder of claim 12, wherein saidnarrowed extension is bottleneck-shaped and said attaching elementincludes a generally cylindrically vertically upstanding structureintegral with said liquid tray and adapted to receive said downwardlyoriented bottleneck-shaped extension of said liquid container.
 14. Thehummingbird feeder of claim 13, wherein said vertically upstandingstructure includes parts that engage opposing sides of said bottleneckextension.
 15. The hummingbird feeder of claim 12, wherein said movablemember is adapted to be at least partially immersed in liquid withinsaid liquid tray and includes a part which extends above a liquid levelin said liquid tray when said liquid tray is full.
 16. The hummingbirdfeeder of claim 12, wherein said valve is operatively associated withsaid attaching element and movable with respect thereto when opening andclosing said bottom opening.
 17. The hummingbird feeder of claim 12,wherein said movable member has a curved inner surface that rides alonga correspondingly curved outer surface of said attaching element whensaid movable member moves.
 18. The hummingbird feeder of claim 17,wherein sideways movement of said movable member is constrained bycontact with said attaching element.